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Module: Schwerkraft und Traegheit / Hahntisch / internet Dialog

Sequence: 1.0 Vitrine 11210: Schwerkraft und Traegheit

Branching Point: Gravitation and Inertia

Sequence: 1.1 Objektfolge_11210: Ausgestellte Objekte

Slide: Jolly Balance

Slide: Maxwell’s Wheel

Slide: Ernst Mach’s Mechanics

Slide: Planck on Mach's Criticism of Newton's Principle of Inertia

Slide: Einstein’s Obituary for Ernst Mach

Sequence: 1.2 Auf den Schultern von Riesen und Zwergen

Branching Point: On the Shoulders of Giants and Dwarfs

Sequence: 1.2.1 Biographie 11220: Aristoteles

Slide: Aristotle (384–322 B. C.)

Sequence: 1.2.2 Biographie 11220: Isaac Newton

Slide: Isaac Newton (1643–1727)

Sequence: 1.2.3 Biographie 11220: Albert Einstein

Slide: Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

Sequence: 1.2.4 Der Dialog

Slide: On the Shoulders of Giants and Dwarfs

Sequence: 1.3 Objekt 11210_1473: Waage von Jolly (Alles)

Slide: Newton's Law of Gravitation

Slide: Decrease of Gravitation on the Top of a Tower

Slide: Jolly Balance

Slide: Philipp von Jolly (1809-1884)

Slide: Philipp von Jolly's Experiment

Slide: Jolly's Experiment for Determining the Density of the Earth

Sequence: 1.4 Objekt 11210_1534: Maxwellsches Rad (Alles)

Slide: Newton's Principle of Inertia

Slide: Maxwell’s Wheel

Sequence: 1.5 Machs Kritik an Newtons Traegheitsprinzip

Slide: Ernst Mach (1838–1916)

Slide: Ernst Mach’s Mechanics

Slide: Newton's Absolute Space

Branching Point: Mach's Argument Against Newton's Absolute Space

Sequence: 1.5d.1 animation de

Slide: Newtons Eimer

Sequence: 1.5d.2 animation en

Slide: Newtons Bucket

Slide: Planck on Mach's Criticism of Newton's Principle of Inertia

Slide: Einstein’s Obituary for Ernst Mach

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Einstein’s Obituary for Ernst Mach

Therefore, it is not at all idle play when we are trained to analyze the entrenched concepts, and point out the circumstances that promoted their justification and usefulness and how they evolved from the experience at hand. […] I know at least that Hume and Mach have helped me a lot, both directly and indirectly.

Mach clearly recognized the weak points of classical mechanics, and thus came close to demand a General Theory of Relativity – and this almost half a century ago! […] The contemplations of Newton's experiments with the bucket demonstrate how close his mind was to the demands of relativity in a wider sense (relativity of accelerations). Admittedly, the vivid conciousness was missing that […] we are not in a position to decide by experiments if the falling of a body relative to a coordinate system is caused by the presence of a gravitational field or by a state of acceleration of the coordinate system.